Suction motor



July 26, 1.938. E. v. HENNECKE SUCTION MOTOR Filed Jn. 7, 1935 2 a 1 2 45W v A a W i m a w a W INVENTOR Ibr/e Kbenneeii'e BY v 0% 4/ ATTORNEY$ Patented July 26, 1938 SUCTION MOTOR Earle V. Hennecke, Flushing, N. Y.; Margaret Bernadette Hennecke, administratrix of said Earle V. Hennecke, deceased, assignor to Automotive Equipment, Inc., a corporation of New York Application January 7, 1935, Serial No. 691

(Cl. mi -4s) 21 Claims.

This invention relates to suction motors for operating windshield'cleaners or the like in which air is alternately exhausted from and admitted to a pair of collapsible walled working chambers,

each chamber comprising a socket and a distortable member closing the mouth of the socket. The central portions of the distor'table members are connected to a power transmitting, motion translating train which converts the suction induced movement of the collapsible chamber walls into an oscillating movement of the power takeoff shaft.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a suction motor of this type in which a working chamber having -a collapsible rubber wall so designed that there will be little or no wear or chafing of rubber against metal parts and no braking action of rubber against rubber as the chambers are alternately reduced and enlarged; in which the need for special air tight connections between the power applying resilient members and the power take-off mechanism is obviated; in which the over-all size of the motor is reduced; in which the construction'is simplified by the elimination of parts and assembly is expedited and facilitated and the cost of manufacture decreased; in which greater power is obtained by the elimination of friction tensions of the socket. Telescoped over the "socket mouths i2 are the skirt portions l3 of collapsible rubber bags. At the bag centers are inwardly extending generally cylindrical reinforcing members, shown in the form of rubber plugs or blocks I4, these blocks being of a diameter appreciably less than the internal diameter of the sockets Ii and being integrally connected to the skirt portions of the bag by inwardly extending annular bight forming portions I5.

Molded into the blocks or plugs, or reinforced bag centers [4 are flanged metallic connector pieces l6 presenting a pair of upstanding apertured ears IT to be pivotally connected as at ill to the ends of a walking beam I9. This walking beam is fixed intermediate its ends upon a rock shaft mounted in a boss 2| rising from the base member ill between the two working chambers. Also keyed upon the rock shaft 20 is a gear 2Ia transmitting motion through a gear 22 to a second rock shaft 23 disposed directly under the 'first rock shaft 20, the shaft 23 being adapted to carry a windshield wiper or to indirectly actuate a windshield wiper.

Annular trough-like members 24 integral with the cylindrical mouths of the sockets ii limit the extent to which the bag .skirts maybe teleand leak and by the meet a .collapsible chamber to flexure; and in which the distortable members are under substantially no tension when the motor is idle and the shelf life of the rubber is thus prolonged.-

The invention may be more fully understood from. the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing, whereln:-

Fig. 1 is a view mainly in longitudinal section wall opposing but negligible inherent resistance and partly in side elevation of a motor embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view showing one of the motor chambers when the walking beam is in its central or neutral position,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showing the cross-- sectional shape of the collapsible bagas'it comes from the mold, and

' Fig. 4 is a perspective'view showing the substantially untensioned position normally assumed by the bag when the reinforced bag center has'been folded inwardly through the bag skirt.

scoped over the mouths of the sockets. The skirt portions l3 of the bags are of greater thickness than the bight portions l5 and a hinge connection or predetermined fold line between the bight and skirt is afforded by making that portion of the bag at the juncture of the bight and skirt of even less thickness than ,the bight portion itself, this weakened hinge line being indicated at 25.

The bags are molded as illustrated in Fig. 3 with the skirts approximately cylindrical with the bight portions offset slightly inwardly with respect to the skirt and tapering from their point of connection with the skirts to their point of juncture with the blocks or reinforcing members i4.

necting the two working chambers with the attion the bag centers are alternately drawn inwardly as air is exhausted from the working chambers, thereby imparting motion to the walking beam which is translated into oscillating motion of the rock shaft 23.

When the central reinforced portion ll of the ency of the reinforced bag center to move either inwardly or outwardly and no portion of the bag will be under tension with the exception of the.

bight which is self-tensioning due to the folding which has occurred. It is this position which the bag assumes when'the walking beam I e is in its a central or neutral position and this is a very important feature because when these motors are stored on a dealers shelf, the walking beam willbe in its intermediate. position; both of the bags will be in the position illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4 and will be under substantially no tension, whereby the shelf life of the motor may be very materially prolonged. I

Another important feature is the complete elimination of metal guide cups or floating sleeves such as shown in Kuskin Patents No. 1,912,777 and No. 2,045,861 within the working chambers, since these parts tend to chafe against the rubber of the bag and cause wear.

substantially less diameter than-the diameter of the socket ii, there will be substantially no tendency of the run of the annular bight to drag'or chafe against itself or the socket wall or the reinforcing plug It. It is true that as the bag center moves inwardly from the position shown in the left hand side of Fig. 1 to. the position shown in the right hand side of Fig. 1, the [bight will tend to be drawn against the inside wall of the socket I i and to be unfolded or unpeeled from the block it but this is a straight folding action so that no chafing occurs. On reverse movement of the bag the bight portion in effect peels from the inner walls of the socket and again tends to fold against the block II;

The use of a hinge line 25 assures cmrrect fold.-

. ing of the bags so that by simply depressing the center from theposition shown in Fig; 3, the bags will assume the substantially ,untensibned position of Fig. 4. so-cailed bight portion l5 be appreciably thinner than the skirt portion of the bag since substantiaily all of the flexing occurs at the bight' and the thinner the rubber the less resistance it opposes to flexing. The skirt portions themselves are of coursehighly flexibleand when air is exhausted from the interior of a working chamber, these skirts tend to more snugly hug the cylindrical socketmouths whereby the entry of air under the skirts on the suction stroke is precluded. Obviously the skirt portion or base of the bag may be of anysuitable form adapted to be held in sealing engagement with the mouth of the socket member, the only essential feature being that a tight fit be secured so as to prevent leakage into the costof manufacture but it becomes entirely unnecessary to provide special means for sealing against the leakage air at the point of con- Also by making the block or central reinforcingmember' i l of it is also important that the,-

-ing shall be interpreted as nection of the bag centers to the walking beam.

It will be apparent that the working chamber formed by the use of my improved bag is not only absolutely air=tight but that the action of the collapsible chamber walls is substantially frictionless due to the thin and highly flexible nature of'the rubber used in the bight portions of the bags or diaphragms, and to the fact that a rolling rather than a sliding action takes place between the flexible bag and the walls of the socket and central reinforcement. 1

. Connecting the ends of the walking beams directly to the bag tops eliminates the necessity for the;link connection illustrated in the Kuskin patents and while the reinforced bag centers will, during reducing and enlarging of the chambers, have aslightly greater lateral traverse as an incident of their vertical movement due to their direct connection to the Walking beam, such traverse becomes of no moment because of the highly flexible nature of the bags themselves. and the relatively small diameter of block I4.

While I do not wish to be limited to dimensions,

it isworthy of note that highly satisfactory results have been obtained commercially by the .use of a rubber bag the skirt portion of which is 1 in internal diameter and the plug portion of which is 1 in diameter, with the bight portion having a thickness of roughly of an inch;

the-skirt having a thickness of roughly of an 1 inch and the fold line having a thickness of approximately. 315 of an inch. While I have illustrated and describeda suction motor embodying two working chambers and of the type which is suitedfor use in operating windshield wipers, it is to be understood that it is within the scope of the invention to provide motors utilizing one, two or more working chambers and that such motors may'be designed for,

light duty as wellas heavy duty work, typical uses for such motors being the'actuation of air brakes, or direction signals or-fuel pumps on automobiles and in all such cases either the intake manifold may'serve as the source of suction or any other suitable suction inducing means may be used.

It will thus be seen that there is herein described apparatus in which the several features of intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:- v

1. In a suction motor, a power take-oft. member, a collapsible walled working chamber, comprising a cup-shaped diaphragm which constitutes a collapsible wall-of said chamber and includes at its center a soft inwardly extending .block, and nieans extending into, and only part Way through said block from the exterior thereof,

for connecting said block to said power take-off member.

2. In a suction motor, a. collapsible walled working chamber, comprising a cup-shaped diaphragm constituting the collapsible. wall of said '76 chamber, said diaphragm including at its center a soft inwardly extending block-like cylindrical reinforcement.

3. In a suction motor, a collapsible walled work- .ing chamber, comprising a fixed wall portion and a cup-shaped diaphragm which constitutes the collapsible wall of said chamber, said diaphragm including at its center a solid inwardly extending soft block-like reinforcement, said reinforcement being of cylindrical shape and of appreciably less diameter than the diameter of the chamber, and an annular inwardly extending reentrant bight portion connecting the block and the fixed portion of the chamber wall and adapted to be folded doublebetween the block and the flxed'portion of the chamber wall,

4. In a suction motor, a collapsible walled working chamber, comprising a diaphragm constituting the collapsible wall of said chamber, said diaphragm including at its center a soft inwardly extending block-like cylindrical reinforcement, and means for connecting the diaphragm through said block to a power take-off mechanism and including a connecting means which extends into the block from the exterior thereof, is partially I embedded in the block, and terminates short of formedby that part of the bag wall adjacent to theireinforcing member lying againstand being at all times supported against collapse by engagement with the inwardly extending cylindrical surface of said reinforcing member.

6. In-a suction motor, a collapsible walled working chamber including a rigid socket member having a cylindrical mouth, and a distortable bag including a skirt portion telescoped over the mouth of the socket,'the central portion of said bag including an inwardly extending cylindrical reinforcing block, that portion of the bag which connects the skirt and the block extending inwardly in theform of a reentrant annular bight,

said bight portion being of less thickness than the skirt portion.

'7. In a suction motor, a collapsible walled working chamber including a rigid socket member having a cylindrical mouth, a distortable bag including a skirt portion telescoped over the mouth of the socket; the central portion of said bag including an inwardly extending cylindrical integral reinforcing block, that portion of the bag which connects the skirt and the block extending inwardly in the form of a reentrant annular bight folded double between the skirt and the block, said bag at the line of juncture of the skirt and bight being of decreased thickness affording a fold line upon which the bight portion folds ining chamber including a rigid socket member having a cylindrical mouth, a distortable bag including a skirt portion telescoped over the mouth "of the socket, the central portion of said bag including an inwardly extending cylindrical integral reinforcing block, that portion of the bag which connects the skirt and the block extending inwardly in the form of an annular bight, said bight portion being of less thickness than the skirt portion, and said bag at the line of junction of the skirt portion and bight .portion being of further decreased thickness to predetermine -a fold line on which the bight and the bag center which it carries fold inwardly.

9. In a suction motor, a collapsible walled working chamber including a rigid socket member having a cylindrical mouth, a distortable bag including a skirt portion telescoped over the mouth of the socket, the central portion of said bag including an inwardly extending cylindrical i'ntegral reinforcing block, that portion of the bag which connects the skirt and the block extending inwardly in the form of a reentrant annular bight, folded double between the socket and the block, said bight when so folded assuming a substan .tially stable condition.

10. In a suction motor, a collapsible walled working chamber including a rigid socket member having a cylindrical mouth, a distortable bag including a skirt portion telescoped over the mouth of the socket, the central portion of said bag presenting an inwardly extending cylindrical reinforcing block, that portion of the bag which connects the skirt and the block extending inwardly in the form of a reentrant annular bight, said reinforced bag center when moved into the skirt of the bag, assuming a substantially untensioned position, with the top of the reinforcement approximately flush with the top of the skirt and with the bight folded double between. the skirt and the reinforcement.

11. As a new article of manufacture, a rubber bag adapted to be telescoped over the cylindrical mouth of a socket and to cooperate with said socket to aflford a. collapsible walled working chamber, said bag including a generally cylin-. drical skirt portion, a generally frusto-conical portion extending upwardly and inwardly from I said skirt and a cylindrical reinforcing block connected to the upper end of said frusto-conical portion, said frusto-conical portion being adapted to constitute a reentrant bight when the block portion is forced inwardly into the skirt and to lie folded double between said block and skirt.

12. As a new article of manufacture, a rubber bag adapted to be telescoped over the cylindrical mouth of a socket and to cooperate with said socket to afford a collapsible walled working chamber, said bag including a generally cylindrical skirt portion, a generally frusto-conical portion. extending upwardly and inwardly. from said skirt and an integral cylindrical reinforcing block connected to the upper end of said frusto-conical portion, said frusto-conical portion being adapted to constitute a bight when the block portion is forced inwardly into the skirt and to lie between said block and skirt, said skirt being of greater thickness than the bight forming portion to form a-predetermined fold line at their juncture on which the bight folds inwardly as the reinforced center or top of the bag is moved into the skirt. v

13. As a new article of manufacture, a rubber bag adapted to be telescoped over the cylindrical mouth of a socket and to cooperate with said socket to afford a collapsible walled working chamber, said bag including a generally cylindrical skirt portion, a generally frusto-conical portion extending upwardly and inwardly from said skirt and in integral cylindrical reinforcing block connected to the upper end of said frustoconical portion, said frusto-conical portion being adapted to constitute a bight when the block portion is forced inwardly into the skirt and to lie. between said block and skirt, said skirt being of greater thickness than the bight to form a predetermined fold line at their juncture on which the bight folds inwardly as the reinforced center or top of the bag is moved into the skirt, said fold line being so designed that the block assumes a substantially untensioned position within the skirt when thrust downwardly into the skirt.

14. In a suction motor a collapsible walled working chamber including a rigid socket forming portion and a diaphragm closing the mouth of said socket portion and adapted to be drawn inwardly by suction to reduce said working chamher, said diaphragm including a central reinforcement whose inner .end is of the .same shape as the end wall of the socket forming portion, and a reentrant bight forming portion disposed between said central reinforcement and the rigid wall of the socket. 1

15. In a suction motor, a collapsible rubber bag having a skirt portion adapted-to be held comparatively rigid, and having a collapsible bight portion adapted to be folded within said skirt portion in close proximity thereto, said bight portion being of smaller diameter than said skirt portion to form a readily ioldable annular region between said portions about which said bight may be collapsed in the interior of said skirt, said bight portion having an inwardly extending integral block for effecting the well-regulated collapse of the bight portion into the interior of said skirt portion in close proximity thereto when in collapsed condition.

16. In a suction motor, a working chamber of variable volume comprising a rigid socket and a flexible diaphragm secured thereto, said diaphragm comprising a base portion secured marginally to the socket, a central inwardly extending cylindrical reinforcing member of substantially less diameter than the socket, and a flexible connecting wall extending between the base portion and the outer end of said reinforcing member, said wall forming a reentrant fold between the base portion and the reinforcing memher at all times, and means limiting the outward than the socket, and a flexible connecting wall extending between the skirt portion and the block, said wall forming a reentrant fold between the skirt portion and the block at all times, and means limiting the outward movement of the block to a. position in which the block overlaps the skirt portion.

18. In a suction motor, a working chamber of variable volume comprising a rigid socket and a 'flexible diaphragm secured thereto, said diaphragm comprising a skirt portion secured marginally to the socket, a central inwardly extending cylindrical block of substantiallyless diameter than the socket, and a flexible connecting Wall extending between the skirt portion and the block,.said wall forming a reentrant fold between the skirt portion andthe block at'all times, and means controlling the length of stroke of the block, the thickness of the block being substantially half the length of the working stroke, and the-Tlength of the connecting wall being substantially the same asthe length of-theworking stroke.

19. In a suction motor, a working chamber of variable volume comprising a rigid socket and a flexible diaphragm secured thereto, said diaphragm comprising a skirt portion secured marginally to the socket, a central inwardly extending cylindrical block of substantially less diameter than the socket, and a flexible connecting wall ex-- tending between the skirt portion and the block, said'wall forming areentrant fold between the skirt portion and the block at all times, and means controlling the length of stroke of the block, the thickness of the block being substantially half the length of the working stroke, and the length of the connecting wall being substantially the same as the length of the working stroke, the arrangement being such that substantially the lower half of the connecting wall is folded double between the socket and the block at the outer limit of'movement, and substantially the upper half of the connecting wall is folded double between the socket and the block at the inner limit of movement.

20. In a suction motor, a working chamber of variable volume comprising a rigid socket and a flexible diaphrgam marginally secured thereto, said diaphragm comprising a central inwardly extending cylindrical block of substantially less diameter than the socket, and a flexible wall connecting the socket and the block, and means limiting the stroke of the block, said connecting wall being long enough to form a reentrant fold between the socket and the blockin all operative positions of the block, but not long enough to expose substantially more than one-half of the length of the wall below the block at the outer limit of the operating stroke.

'21. In a suction motor, a; working chamber of variable volume comprising a rigid socket and a flexible diaphragm secured thereto, said diaphragm comprising a skirt portion secured mar ginally to the socket, a central, inwardly extending, relatively rigid member having an outer wall of substantially less diameter than the socket, and a flexible connecting wall extending between the skirt portion and said inwardly extending member, said flexible wall forming a reentrant fold between the skirt portion and the central, inwardly extending member at all times and extending at least part of the time within the inner wall of the socket, and means limiting the outward movement of the inwardly extending member to a position in which the reentrant fold is present.

EARLE V. HENNECKE. 

